A Tiny Problem
by telescopethetea
Summary: Soul had noticed it a long, long time ago. Maybe she thought he hadn't. Or maybe she knew he had, and only pretended otherwise. Who knows? (SouMa fluff) One-Shot.


**00**

**S**oul had noticed it a long, _long_ time ago.

Maybe she thought he hadn't.

Or maybe she knew he had, and only pretended otherwise. Who knows?

At first, he thought she had made an honest mistake. Maybe she was too busy thinking that she didn't realize what she was doing. But then, it happened again two days later, then a week later, until his pile of already limited wardrobe was undeniably growing smaller.

But he didn't mind. In fact, he thinks it's sort of... cute? And, yeah, it kinda feels great to see her coming out of her room on a Sunday morning, with horrible bed hair and a big yawn and the collar of his t-shirt hanging down her shoulder. It took all he had to hide the biggest smile from creeping onto his face.

It was great, and cute, and he enjoyed every second of it, but now... a blessing, however it had been, has given birth to a new problem : he's lacking clothes. Lots of it. Apparently, after wearing them, Maka has taken it upon herself to _keep_ them. And when he decided to drop some hints, she gave him a confused look. And worse still, he didn't have the heart to push the matter any further.

But this time, this time... he has to put his foot down. He's running so low on shirts that he has to walk around the apartment shirtless. The shirts he does have left needed to be saved for whenever he has to go out.

"Holy shit, Soul." Liz said, sipping her tea.

"That bad, huh?" Tsubaki mused, giving him a sympathetic look. Soul only sighed as Patty laughed.

"Probably, that's why she did it?" Liz said, putting down her cup. "Y'know, since you're 17 and all."

Soul stared at her madly, his cheeks turning cherry pink. "Wh-what's that supposed to mean?"

"Duh," Patty rolled her eyes, "Hormones!"

"Yes!" Liz high-fived her sister and gave her another slice of cake.

"No!" Soul protested, his face the exact shade of a strawberry, "No, wh-what the hell? It's not.. it's not like that!" He said frantically, before turning to the black haired girl in front of him, hoping for some support. "Tsubaki?"

"Mm," she smiled, "They do have a point..."

"_Tsubaki?_" Soul whimpered, defeated. He was desperate, and his temper was growing thinner as the girls laughed at his misfortune.

"Fine, whatever!" He grumbled, trying hard to hide his blush. "Okay, hormones, whatever. We still got the problem of me not having enough shirts to be a decent human being."

"_Y__our_ problem," Patty corrected, making Liz snort into her cup, which triggered Tsubaki into having a laughing fit. Soul could feel his spirit leaving his body.

"God dammit, guys! This is serious!" he pleaded, "_Please_," Soul grabbed the three girls' hands and looked at them with pleading eyes, "I beg you."

That managed to calm them down. It wasn't always they get to see the famous Soul Eater so madly in love and being a little bitch over his shirts being stolen by his girlfriend.

"All right, all right," Liz patted his hand, giving him a soft smile. "Calm down, Mr. Death Scythe."

Soul nodded and took a deep breath. Then he looked at them with something strong burning in his eyes. "Okay, first, tell me. Patty, how did you manage Kid? I know he keeps stealing your socks cause' he likes the 'perfect symmetry' of them."

Liz laughed at his perfect impersonation of her meister, as Patty hmmed and Tsubaki stared at them, dumbfounded.

"Wait," Tsubaki shook her head, "Hold on, Soul, Kid _what_ now?"

"That's simple," Patty spoke, cutting off Tsubaki, "I just started mismatching my socks. Never laid a hand on them ever again."

Tsubaki looked defeated. Soul hmmed, Liz only laughed harder, snorting like a pig.

"I can't do that with my shirts," Soul muttered thoughtfully, "Maka just grabs anything she sees. Even if it's too short for it to be decent." As the last word left his lips, it dawned upon him what he just admitted. Immediately, his face turned as red as a ripe tomato. The three girls infront of him stared at him, clearly amused.

"Uh," He started, "That came out wrong."

Liz raised an eyebrow, Patty snickered, and Tsubaki only nodded.

"Why would it be too short, anyway?" Liz eyed him carefully, "What, you wear croptops?"

"Fuck no!" Soul shrieked, his mind short-circuiting at an attempt to push away the thought of Maka in a croptop.

"No! It was- it's an old shirt, back when I was 13!"

"Uh-huh," Liz nodded assuringly, giving him a wicked grin. "Okay, I believe you."

"Fuck you," He glowered, narrowing his eyes. Patty and Tsubaki giggled.

"Goddamn, Soul," Patty smirked, "It's been a while since we've seen you this love struck."

"Lo-_what_?" Soul snapped, his face growing hotter by the second.

"I agree," Tsubaki chimed in, nodding her head. "It's actually not that big of a problem as you're making it to be."

Soul stared at her in bewilderment.

Tsubaki offered him a soft smile. "Just take her shopping, Soul."

He lowered his gaze, toying with the idea. He hmmed, scratching his not itchy chin.

"Huh..."

Patty snickered as Liz face-palmed. "God, Soul. Don't tell me it never crossed your mind."

Soul slowly shook his head, smiling in embarrassment. Liz and Tsubaki sighed in unison.

"You're a Death Scythe and one of Shibusen's top students. And it has never even occurred, that a simple shopping date might've solved all your teenage problems?"

He chuckled nervously, scratching his head, before completely processing Liz's remark. He furrowed his eyebrows and gave the girls a confused look. "Huh? Shopping date?"

Liz almost lost her sanity then and there. "Soul Eater!" She screamed, eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. Patty quickly grabbed her sister at an attempt to stop her from attacking the clueless Death Scythe.

Tsubaki took the confused Soul's hand into her own and draped her other hand on top of it, looking him in the eyes.

"Soul, you have to ask Maka out."

"Huh?"

"Ask her out on a date, Soul. A date."

"A-a-ah...? Why?"

Tsubaki sighed and smacked the back of his head. "It's been too long, Soul. If you don't act now, she'll slip through your fingers."

"Tsubaki, I know I'm a grown up like you now, but I have absolutely no idea what the hell you're talking about."

"_God dammit_!" Liz slammed her fist on the table, "You love Maka, dumbass!"

Soul's brows knitted together to form a unibrow. He seemed lost in the thought as he hmmed, scratching his cheek.

"Well, that explains a lot."

Liz released an unholy screech as Patty held her down. Tsubaki thought her reaction was appropriate.

"Soul, _please,_ for the love of the late Lord Death," Tsubaki pleaded, "Just go ask her out. Make it a shopping date."

Soul nodded solemnly. "Kill two birds with one stone."

Tsubaki smiled in exasperation. "Yes, yes. Now go, before Liz turns into a kishin egg and we have to call Kid."

The woman was thrashing around and it took everything Patty had to stop her sister from going on a rampage. She looked possessed actually, and dangerous.

Soul stood up, determination burning in his eyes. He smiled at the girls, giving them a thumbs up. "Thanks for the talk, girls. Really helped put things into perspective."

"Glad we could help," Patty grinned, patting her sister's shoulder. Tsubaki gave him an encouraging smile. "Good luck, Soul. We'll be here if you need to talk."

"Mm." Soul nodded, turning around and walked out the door of Tsubaki and Black Star's apartment.

**00**

**T**his was a mistake. He never should've done this. His hands were trembling and he was drenched in sweat, his thoughts a jumbled mess in his head.

He was standing at the entrance of the living room, eyes glued on Maka, who was sitting comfortably on the couch watching TV. She was wearing one of his old t-shirts (she's been doing that a lot, lately) and the edge of the thing was resting dangerously low, only inches below her hips.

Soul gulped.

"Hey, Maka."

She looked up at him for a second before going back to the show she was watching. "Mm," was all he got in reply.

"Nice shirt." He wanted to slap himself, so. fucking. bad.

She cocked an eyebrow at him and looked down at the thing she was wearing. He swore he saw a faint pink line dusting her cheeks.

"Oh," she said, before grinning up at him, scratching her head. "Sorry."

_No you're not, you vixen,_ Soul grumbled in his mind, wanting to curse himself for being such a wuss. He mentally slapped himself and walked over to the couch before planting himself on the spot beside her. The room fell silent almost immediately.

It took two whole minutes of courage building for Soul to open his mouth again.

"I was wondering," he tried, looking at anything but her, "if you'd wanna go shopping tomorrow."

Maka hmmed, toying with the thought.

**_Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes._**

"Nah."

_Fuck._

He has to think of something now, fast.

"You sure? I mean, you complained last week that you didn't have anything that fits anymore, right?"

"Yeah, so?" She didn't even look surprised, keeping her eyes fixed on the screen. Of all the times she decided to be stubborn, this was by far the_ worse_. Soul was so frustrated he could cry.

"Well, I thought you might wanna go out," he smiled sheepishly, "Get some new stuff and some fresh air. I mean...We had a pretty rough mission last night, anyway. Kinda need a breather, don't you think?"

**_Please work, please work, please work._**

"Hmm, I guess..." She mused, scratching her ankle.

**_Please, please, please, please _****please****_ work._**

"Yeah, okay," she smiled at him, "You're right. And I heard a new store just opened at the mall, we could check it out."

Soul's face lit up like a christmas tree. "Awesome."

_Okay, okay, now phase two. Focus, Soul. You got this._

_You got this._

"And then, maybe... we could grab some ice cream? At the park?"

"What, like a date?"

_You don't got this._

"Wh-" Soul panicked, sweat dripping down his face. He gulped and, after throwing caution to the wind, forced himself to meet her eyes. He has to look cool. Be cool, Soul. Be cool.

"Y-yes..."

Maka turned around and gave him a suspicious look. "Soul Eater," she quizzed, "Are you asking me out on a date?"

**_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH_**

He swallowed, hard, trying not to fall apart. His mind was going haywire, his hands were shaking, his jaw clenched and his heart was so close to being ripped out of his chest that it was getting harder to breathe. The temperature in the room rose a couple of degrees, even though it was already blazing hot since it's summer, and the only thing he could hear was the furious thumping of his heart against his ribcage.

He forced himself to look at her in the eye, convincing himself to be as brave as she had always been.

"Yes, I am." He said coolly.

Almost immediately, her pale face morphed into the colour of an apple.

"Oh," Maka dropped her gaze, flushing madly. The raging confidence he had just a moment ago vanished in the blink of an eye.

Soul wanted to tell her that it was okay; that she didn't have to answer because he already knew.

_and he should have known, dammit. Dammit, he's so stupid for this. Damn it. Damn-_

"T-then... tomorrow at 10?" She suddenly muttered, eyes raking up to face him. It caught him off guard and he choked back a sentence as he stared at her, too stunned for words.

After a brief pause, he nodded and gave her a sheepish smile. She wasn't looking at him, and he's glad she wasn't. He said a timid "Goodnight," and walked to his room.

He threw himself onto the bed, burying his face into the pillows, before screeching like a pterodactyl on fire. Then he passed out.

**00**

**T**he next morning, Soul got up early and took it upon himself to make breakfast. It'll be a bit awkward and all, but he has to be the one to break the ice. He started it all, anyway.

Half past eight, Maka walked out of her room as always. She was a bit surprised to see him in the kitchen, flipping pancakes and cooking sausages with a stupid grin on his face.

If she had to be brutally honest with herself, she actually wanted to turn and lock herself in the room. But a talk with Blair earlier that morning made her change her mind.

She decided that she won't run away. She'll be brave, as she'd always been, and face the situation. It's embarrassing, and awkward, but truth be told she's actually been waiting for _ages_ \- for him to make the first move because she knows he knows they're more than just _best friends_ and _flatmates _and _partners._

It's been driving her insane, but when it finally happened... well, it's an entirely different experience. In that moment, she finds herself at a loss for words. She was speechless, and stunned, and giddy and happy and utterly embarrassed, but she... she likes it. Welcomes it.

"Mornin'," the soothing sound of his voice crumpled her train of thought. She greeted back, watching him stack the brown pancakes on a plate and set it on the counter. Then he popped open the fridge and pulled out a box of orange juice and poured two glasses of it. He turns off the stove and puts a plate of sausages beside the pancakes.

"I made us breakfast."

"And it looks good," she commented, giving him a genuine smile. He scoffed and puffed out his chest, "Well, it's _me _we're talking about here. Of course it's good."

Maka rolled her eyes and sat down, pulling the plate of sausages towards her. "Please don't," she stuffed a sausage in her mouth, "You sound exactly like Black Star and frankly, it's too early for that cocky bastard."

Soul laughed, pulling back the chair opposite hers. They talked a little as they ate, bits and pieces of nonsense, just to get rid of the mild awkwardness in the air. Soul smiled in relief when it seemed to be working. And it was also a relief to see her so lively and being her usual Maka self - talking about some book she read the other day and how the protagonist was pissing her off, and how _damn adorable _she looked when she's pouting.

After breakfast, they fought over who gets the bathroom first, and it only dissolved when Blair appeared out of nowhere and dashed straight into the shower, locking the door. It left both of them speechless, staring at each other in shock, before exploding into loud, amused laughter.

They had a go at rock-paper-scissors, and it amused Soul to see the look on Maka's face when he dealt the finishing blow, claiming his victory. He won 3-nil, and she was hellbent on sulking the entire day, until he threatened to steal back all of his shirts and hoodies. That apparently did the job, as she went into embarrassed panic mode and shoved him into the bathroom the minute Blair walked out. Her face lit up beet red as he cackled like a witch, knowing full well she was as much of a mess as he was.

At precisely 10.30 am, they got on Soul's bike (with her arms wrapped around his torso a little tighter than usual) and by 10.45 am, they reached the mall.

He lets her be their guide, pulling him by the fingers into clothing stores and thrift shops, trying on stupid outfits and cute dresses, the both of them enjoying themselves and laughing freely, blushing and brushing off the innocent spark of awkardness and embarrassment.

By the time they reached the 7th store, Soul had finally mustered up enough courage to take her hand while staring off at a line of clothes by the corner. She bit her lip and gazed down at their hands, before her fingers slowly reciprocate his gesture, a shy smile slipping through her lips.

Their hands were intertwined the minute they walked through the door of the next shop.

By five, they were already at the park with an ice cream each.

There were a lot of brief silences, furious blushing, brave little glances, and gentle, tiny touches.

Most of the time, Soul thought he was lost in some type of daze. Maka was convinced it was another weird dream.

But it only dawned upon them that it was reality when they were standing by the lake, a sunset behind them, and he was leaning in and she closed her eyes, their hearts burning with the thrill and excitement as their lips brushed, a gush of electricity striking down their spines.

It was enough to convince them that it was not a dream, not a daze, when he pulled her closer and she squeaked, grabbing the collar of his shirt.

It was enough to make them feel _alive, _warm and safe in the other's embrace.

And they smiled like idiots when they pulled away, faces as colourful as the sky above them, eyes sparkling as the stars winked down at the world below.

She buried her face into the crook of his neck, hugging him as tightly as she could, the biggest smile spread across her face. He wrapped his arms firmly around her, her small physique fitting in with his like a puzzle. He breathed in the citrus smell of her hair, smiling so hard his cheeks were starting to hurt.

They rode back to their apartment after grabbing dinner. They felt bad when they saw Blair, in her cat form, laid asleep behind the front door, clearly waiting for their return. She probably skipped dinner, too, the poor thing.

So they changed into their PJ's, grabbed enough pillows and blankets and the sleeping Blair to make a giant, warm snuggle dump on the couch.

Even when they had just gone shopping and bought enough clothes to fill up a ship, he wasn't disappointed to see her walk towards the couch in one of his shirts - an old and worn out one - her favourite, he deduced. She climbed onto the couch and, with a growing blush, snuggled up to him with Blair in her arms, as he pulled a blanket over them and wrapping his arms around her.

It was warm and cozy, and Maka was there beside him-safe and alive, they were stuffed with food and sleepy, and frankly, he couldn't wish for anything else for a cool life.

As long as she's beside him, he'll follow her anywhere.

Even to the unknown depths of Hell.


End file.
